Dog Days
by SplishySplash
Summary: Booth is tired of seeing her heart broken and so he goes out of his way to mend her broken heart. Set shortly after "Finger in the Nest,"


**Title: Dog Days**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing! Just the plot and the ideas. This is taken from 'The Finger in the Nest' and has a lot of Booth and Brennan interaction. Not only that some Booth/Cam interaction, not romantic-I think that Cam is sort of Booth's shoulder angel when it comes to Brennan and I'm totally cool with that relationship. I chose not to add Hodgins and Angela because I think they have bigger issues that I can portray in my happy story. I'm not going to lie, I am still huge in the Brennan/Hodgins thing. And I am still working on Life Goes On and all my other stories, for those who care

Thanks for reading and please review...

**Rating: K**

**Song of the Day:** Let an angel swing and make you swoon/Then you will see. . .you will see/then he said/Here's a riddle for you/Find the answer/There's a reason for the world/You and I

Booth had never seen Brennan get more attached to anything that wasn't human in the almost four years of their partnership. When they found the mass grave of dog bones just outside of the dog fighting arena, she was upset by the find and blatantly open about her feelings that caused Booth to double take to make sure he heard correctly.

Booth sat at his desk, tapping his pen to a four beat count, he let his mind wander to when she was in his office and her excitement filling the room at the prospect of adopting Ripley. Never had Booth wanted to be the one to break her heart, but putting the dog down was for the greater good and it nearly broke his own.

It had taken him an hour to track down the body to the dog and another twenty minutes to track down his partner. She sat at her desk, her eyes were red from silent tears and with a 'come on, Bones I've got a surprise for you.'

Their funeral service for Ripley didn't last long and they had had the same conversation before when she buried her mother but had better results than the first time. He held back a chuckle when she addressed the universe in her plight for vengeance against the injustice towards the four legged animal, but remained neutral.

--

A hug, a conversation about his son, Thai food and a ride home later left him sitting in her parking lot and thinking. It was as if the Tahoe lit up when an idea struck him with full force as he threw shifted into gear and sped off.

- - - -

The next morning Brennan arrived into her office just shy of seven and quickly reaching her office. Her email checked and the minimal paperwork that sat inside her in-box, before she had to do actual work that was in her job description.

A skeleton soon laid on the table and her examination started without hitch. Eventually Hodgins showed up, followed by Cam and lastly Angela, leaving them one person short. With quick hello's she made it without anyone noticing her down attitude and continued to work on the skeleton.

Narrowing down the age, sex, height and ethnicity and making sure they matched the card didn't take long as she began to catalogue anomalies on the bones when the familiar footsteps made their way towards her. "Can I help you, Booth?" She said not looking up from the skull.

"Good morning, Bones." He said, cheerfully. "How do you do that?"

"It's one of my secret powers." She answered, not looking up from rib cage. She heard a chuckle escape from his lips and felt a hand on her shoulder. "Back to the original question, can I help you?"

"Not really." He said walking to her side, pretending to be interested in the skeleton in front of his partner.

"Is there a reason that you are here? I am pretty sure you have paper work to do." She asked, he shifted awkwardly and it was enough for her to look up, taking notice that his hands were hidden behind his back. "What are you hiding?"

"What am I, a suspect? If you must know, I got you something." He said bringing his hands around the front and its contents was a bundled colorful blanket. With his free hand he uncovered a golden retriever puppy, at which started to yap excitedly.

Her face fell in shock as she held out her arms for him to place the dog into her arms, who licked at her nose it excitement. Booth watched with a tender smile, in the four years that he had been working with the woman, he had never seen her speechless. "I know I can't bring Ripley back, but I thought she could use a home and since you had already made arrangements, you can use them for her."

Her excited cerulean looked up to his. "I don't know what to say." She responded after a long silence. He shrugged with a tinge of red on the tips of his ears. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He said softly, reaching over to pet the puppy's ears.

"Where did you get her?" She asked, she smiled as the dog nipped at her finger.

"A good friend of mine breeds them and had told me that this little lady was the last one in her litter and that she was probably the smartest out of the bunch, but I think she needs a name." Booth explained as he watched her interact with the dog, almost uncharacteristically to the naked eye.

His smile grew wide as she talked down to the small dog as she would a small child. "Do you need a name? I think you need a name, because we can't keep calling you girl, don't you agree." It yapped excitedly, this time gaining attention from the pathologist.

"I thought we got rid of all the dogs, Doctor Brennan." She asked, sliding her card in the reader and making her way towards the platform.

"I just brought this one in, and she isn't a killer." Booth answered for Brennan. "Meet Bones' new dog."

Just like Brennan, Cam gushed over the puppy and reached a hand to stroke its blond coat. "It's a very cute puppy, does she have a name yet?"

Brennan shook her head and bounced the puppy in her arm, "I think you look like an Emma." She said, still talking down to the dog, gaining a chuckle from her boss. "What do you think Booth?"

He smiled and reaching out to brush the lock of hair that had fallen across the anthropologist's forehead. "I agree, I think it fits perfectly." He said approvingly.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off, Doctor Brennan? We really shouldn't have a dog up here contaminating remains that have nothing to do with dogs." Cam said with a smile and the anthropologist looked up, wide eyed.

"Come on, Bones. Let's go shopping for Emma and get some necessities for her." Booth said as he held out the arms to take the dog from her. "Go grab your things, we'll wait here for you." She looked between her partner and her boss as if they would take the dog away, Booth sent her a reassuring smile.

Taking a deep breath she reluctantly handed over the puppy and pressed her lips to the corner of his own lips, turning on her heels and walked towards her office. Cam turned to Booth with a coy smile, "That was really sweet of you, Booth." She said, placing a hand on his arm. "And with that response I think that you made her really happy."

"I couldn't stand to see her heart broken anymore and with all that has happened. . ." Booth answered, the puppy slowly falling asleep in his arms. A smile played on his lips, still tingling from her brief kiss. "I'm just glad she hasn't built up the wall around herself, its one hell of a climb."

"That's why she has you, Seeley Booth." Cam answered, turning her attention to the remains that Brennan had left out and placing them back into the box.

The anthropologist returned from her office, taking the sleeping puppy from her partner's arms and they said their goodbyes to the pathologist before making their way to the FBI issued Tahoe, leaving the Jeffersonian in the dust.

--

It didn't take long for them to reach the PetSmart closest to Brennan's apartment with Emma in tow. They walked in the door and it almost caught the scientist off guard the massive size of the store, Booth ushered her inside with a hand on the small of her back as Emma barked excitedly at another dog who was exiting with its owner.

"Now what?" Asked Brennan, taking note of the organization of the store and that it was portioned off by animals in the corners and in the middle were other miscellaneous animal needs.

"I guess we start by grabbing a cart, for sure we need dog food, food and water bowls, leash and collar and maybe some dog toys." He answered with a smile.

The first isle happened to be an assortment of bowls and other feeding tools, ranging from purified water bowls to heated dog food bowls, but Brennan chose a simple navy blue matching set. "See, we can paint her name on the front." She exclaimed excitedly.

"I still don't understand why people would spend so much money on a water purifier for a dog." Comment Booth as they left the first isle to the dog food isle.

They stood at the end of the isle almost intimidated by the massive choice in food, Brennan frowned as she turned to her partner. "How do we choose what to get?" She asked, gaining a shrug from Booth.

Luckily for the both of them a man wearing a blue collared PetSmart shirt and a 'Hello my name is Derek' approached them. "Can I help you folks with anything?" He said, almost too perky for Booth's liking.

"Yes, we are trying to decide which dog food is best for our dog." Brennan said, Booth smirked at her choice of words and didn't bother to correct it. Ten minutes later, the partners finally made their way to the next isle fully educated on dog food, the difference between dry, canned and other methods for food and which brands offered what nutritional value, leaving them with a small bag of Purina puppy chow. "I didn't think that there were so many choices for dog food."

"Yeah, but I would've been better off without knowing about price mark up on canned food." Booth mocked as the next isle was full of leashes and collars. "It's almost as saying the red collar is ten cents cheaper than the purple one because they have to use blue dye, no one really cares."

She laughed and placed the sleeping puppy into the cart. "This is getting ridiculous, there doesn't need to be that many choices in collars and leashes." She said looking at the selection, organized by size, type, color and any other way imaginable.

"Shh!" he shushed, placing a finger on her lips. "Derek 'I specialize in dogs' might come back." With a concentrated glance and the choices he grabbed a hunter green collar with a matching leash and placed them gently in the basket. "Next?"

She nodded, pushing the cart around the bend to a multitude of toys and treats and smiled as Booth looked like a child and he placed a braided rope into the cart, followed by a squeaking football and a plush octopus. "An octopus?" She asked pulling it out and glancing at the packaging.

"Sure, why not?" He said, tossing in a package of tennis balls. They reached the end of the isle and took notice of a clearance bin full of squeaking bones with the store logos. "This is the last one, I promise." She rolled her eyes and sat it in the cart.

They made it towards the back of the store where they had a selection of dog clothing. "Booth, put that back." He was holding a small sweater. "No dog of mine will be wearing those." She said with a glare.

It was another fifteen minutes later that they were able to check out in addition to the cart was a large square bed, a kennel, grooming tools, dog treats and a Frisbee and the amount climbed higher with every item scanned. "Are you interested in obedience school?" asked the sales girl. The amount totaled to more than a normal car payment and an obligation for every Wednesday and Friday night for the next six weeks.

They made it back to her apartment and managed to get everything inside in a record two trips and sat comfortably on the carpet, rolling the ball to each other with the excited, newly collared, puppy chasing the ball.

"Let's go for a walk." Booth suggested after rolling the ball grew too repetitive for his taste.

She pulled the leash out of the bag, opened the packaging before handing it to Booth so that she could throw away the trash. She came back and held out her hand for the leash when something shiny hung from the collar.

It was a tag.

Emma Brennan-Booth was written in small block letter on the red heart.

She looked up and smiled. "Brennan-Booth?" She asked.

"I want joint custody." He answered, his charm smile on in full force. "I get her when you're out of town and I get to visit when ever I want."

"I don't know, we might have to get a lawyer involved." She answered with a smile to match his own and taking a step closer to him.

"I know a good lawyer." He responded with a shrug.

"That's good." She said, looking at her hands and growing nervous. "Thanks again Booth for everything." It was a whisper, that he had to close the gap to hear her. "Not just Emma, but for helping me with Ripley. . ."

He pressed his lips to hers firmly, her eyes immediately fluttering close and it wasn't until Emma jumped up on her legs, barking for attention that they broke apart. He chuckled as they handed her the leash and opened the door. "You're welcome, Temperance. I hope you know that I will do anything for you."

"I know." She said as Emma barked again. They both looked at the puppy and chuckled. "I think that is a hint that she wants to go outside." He took her hand and they exited the apartment both with matching smiles on their faces.


End file.
